Upright and canister vacuum cleaners equipped with a sliding filter drawer or tray to allow easy access for cleaning or changing a filter are well known in the art. An example of a vacuum cleaner equipped with a filter drawer may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,305,735 to Overwaag which is assigned to the assignee of this document.
One difficulty and concern with such a design relates to the integrity of the flow path through the filter in the drawer. In order to maximize filtering efficiency, any leaks around the filter in the drawer should be minimized or, better still, eliminated. Thus, proper sealing is a major concern. This is difficult to achieve with a sliding drawer.
This document discloses an apparatus and method for providing a filter drawer with a filter that may be easily accessed for cleaning or changing while also providing excellent sealing for greater cleaning efficiency.